Whats the shmup that inspired you to get into this hobby.?

[BIL]

Hardboiled Kyuukyoku-esque from ex-Toaplan people at Gazelle, subtly 90s-ized! A notoriously tricky property from modern licensing standpoint, so rad to see it (and its iconic title voiceover) get a second outing.

This newfangled and cool Aku Gallet Exa Label variant out on loke test with three different modes: Exa Mode, Original and Score Attack.

Has Exa-Arcadia revealed how much it'd cost to buy such an Aku Gallet Exa kit?

And does it have tate option + low-res 15.75kHz arcade monitor support as well?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Not sure PCEFX, I only just learned of it after it popped up amidst my usual Metal Black and G-Darius live feeds; maybe the Exa thread regulars might know.

Fun fact, the famous "Blows your socks off" intro was by none other than veteran MMA announcer Lenne Hardt, with Jeff Manning of Smash Bros 64 as The Other Guy! With how bitterly Nihon Ichiban hardcore P1/TOJO looks, and P2/JOHNNY's easygoing collegiate style, it's hard to imagine either being the guy saying "WHAT THE HECK!!!" and "IT'S NOT THAT EASY!"

[espibara]

Armalyte on C64 was my first foray into the hobby.

But

It was Thunderforce 3 and Aeroblasters on the megadrive that sealed the deal.

[scrilla4rella]

I always enjoyed shooters like Life Force and Raiden but never took them seriously until I picked up Radiant Silvergun sometime around 2002. That inspired me to seek out other more modern shooters ('whoa, they still make these kinds of games?!'), which is about when I found this website. Here I learned about the other Saturn shmups like Dodonpachi, Battle Gareega, and Bastugun (as well the magic of Sony PVMs and pure RGB connections).

I would buy a new Saturn shooter about once a month. Back then you could get these games for about 40-50 USD, which seemed expensive at the time. I still remember the moment Battle Garegga clicked with me. It was pretty much over at that point.

[sumdumgoy]

x

[Gamer707b]

I grew up in the hey day of the genre back when Galaga was the trend at the arcades. Then the next boom during the 16-bit era. Played them very casually at the arcades way back when, and would very rarely buy them on console. They didn't click with me till around 12 years ago though. There wasn't that one game that did the trick, but rather a combination of several games. Around this time is when I got the bug and started getting a bunch of Saturn and Genesis shmups. Galactic Attack, Darius Gaiden, Radiant Silvergun, the Thunder Force games, the rest is history.

[Loom1es]

I go all the way back to Galaxy Invader, I loved that thing. In the arcade I remember StarForce being a favourite.

[Lemnear]

It's a genre that I happened to play over time, so it wasn't new to me, Apidya, G-Darius and Super Space Invaders were the first ever, also Einhander (which I liked at the time, but trying it again now I don't) and R-Type Delta (which I tried again and it's as good as I remembered).

Then I partially had that "Dreamcast" moment and I took Under Defeat HD on PS3 together with other SEGA games (Jet Set Radio )..then Ikaruga on PS4 because it was a "Legendary" title.
Only in 2023 I discovered the whole Arcade part of SHMUPS and the very rich and extremely detailed and documented history of the genre. From there a curiosity was born for those lost titles, but which exude perfection from every pixel and every second of gameplay.
Obviously lost to most, here maybe they are famous titles, but anywhere else no one knows what Batsugun or DoDonPachi are to say two random names.
I felt like the Lara Croft of video games, exploring ever older games, dusting off lost and once acclaimed relics, or pearls that definitely deserved more attention and success than they got.
I've never said this before but Rail Shooters are my strong point, I have a phenomenal aim even at the shooting range.

[davyK]

I'm another oldie. The arcades really came alive when video games appeared and that for most equates to Space Invaders. For those of a certain age, video games WERE shmups really. Of course other stuff like Pacman and Donkey Kong appeared but it was the shmup that was the genre for me. Space Invaders, Galaxian and Scramble were great but for me the first that blew me away was Phoenix.

The variety was one thing, the first two galaxian-style waves, made way for the eggs that hatched into the birds - you could shoot their wings off and you had to hit them dead centre to get rid of them - then you saw that each bird scored differently.....then you noticed that if you hit a small galaxian in the first 2 waves as it was flying away from at an angle you got a big score - the game play got deeper. Then the boss wave - first I ever experienced - it was breathaking and had an epic feel trying to blast through that hull. Then you saw an expert creating holes in the scrolling barrier...then there was the shield to master which could be used for defence AND attack....the variety of scores you could get from the boss wave ..... it was the first game to reveal hidden depths and tactics. Truly amazing - would still play it today if I saw a cabinet (still do via Taito Legends).

Asteroids was my second love - the arcade version was great but the 2600 provided unlimited free gaming - my brother and I played variation 39 every day for about a year. A year. Then I got Megamania which reminded me of the Sega shooter Astro Blaster which was great but just too tough in the arcade. I was able to clock that game - it stops when you score 999,999.

Gradius was the next to grab me. The power up meter and pickups provided such an compulsive experience. The first time I played it was in the arcade and don't know how long (or how much!) I spent trying to get past those volcanoes. Then I got the NES version and despite the limitations it FELT like the arcade game - played the bejaysus out of that cartridge. Great port.

Fell in love with Parodius after that - first on SNES and then on the mighty Saturn which started me importing so that I could experience the whole series - as great as Gradius V is , imagine if Treasure had decided to do Parodius instead.....sigh.

Since then I have kind of lost my way. I've got older and the games have got harder - too hard for most now - developers need to think about that. I have a shmup selection for Saturn such as RSG, Souky , DDP etc. but I'm old school and can't bring myself to continue too often - so don't see beyond level 3 as a result of that. Bangai O on DC is a cracker and I can crank down the difficulty on Gunbird 2 so I can 1CC it - but it's rare for me to find a shooter that is pitched right. My PS2 collection has a few excellent titles : Dragon Blaze, Homura, Raiden III - again some are tameable via diff options but most aren't.

Took delivery of Sturmwind and it has ignited my love again. It's easier and all the more enjoyable for it - and maybe I'll rotate my CRT and get stuck into DDP again on the Saturn....but shmups need to serve newcomers and those who don't have the reactions of a housefly as well as the hardcore....Cave please take note.

Twelve years on and I have changed my tune.

I got a 360 a few years after this post with Futari and DDP:Resurrection. Futari in particualar really grabbed me. DDP:Res got me going back to DDP on MAME and Saturn and rotating the screen and spending some time with it - enough time to really start appreciating the craftmanship of the later shmups.

Have since notched up a few 1CCs using consoles and MAME - Gigawing(MAME), Darius Gaiden(Sat, MAME) and Mushihimesama (Original and Matsuri on Steam). Love the genre and going back to DDP:Res to see what I can notch up 1CC-wise. So it was Futari that really got me into this genre. 59 in April coming and I won't ever stop playing this stuff.